On the eve of the U.S. election, it’s worth remembering the following chart. In the long run, electing one candidate over another has had little impact on the S&P 500 index. Whether the occupant of the White House is Republican (in red) or Democrat (in blue), the S&P 500 has continued its steady upward trend.

The Swiss National Bank posted a solid profit over the first nine months of the year thanks to rising stocks, bonds, and gold prices, increasing the likelihood of a resumption of profit distributions after a two-year hiatus.

The Swiss central bank reported a gain of 62.5 billion francs (72 billion dollars) for the first nine months of the year, as announced Thursday. While the strong franc weighed on the results, the SNB boosted its profits during the July-September period.

The outlook for U.S. public debt is worsening, as net interest payments as a percentage of GDP are projected to reach a record 4.6% next year.

This would represent more than double the levels during World War II and exceed the historic peaks reached in the 1990s.

This figure is also far higher than net interest as a percentage of GDP across all 38 OECD countries.

In countries where interest costs are relatively high, like Greece, Ireland, Spain, and Portugal, interest/GDP ratios are expected to be half of the U.S. level.

To make matters worse, these projections expect a decline in interest rates over the coming year.

AI is a major energy consumer, and ChatGPT is no exception. The AI tool consumes enough energy each day to power 17,000 American households!

In comparison, Google’s vast infrastructure processes billions of searches, yet has been optimising energy use for years. A ChatGPT search is, on average, 10 times more energy-intensive than a Google search.

With a value of 16.5 trillion dollars, gold remains the world’s largest monetary asset. Following gold are the dollar (5.7 trillion in the monetary base), the euro (5.2 trillion dollars), the yuan (5.2 trillion dollars), the yen (4.4 trillion), and then bitcoin (1.4 trillion dollars). The Swiss franc (600 billion) ranks 8th, between the pound sterling and the Indian rupee.

As bitcoin trades again above 70,000 dollars, inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs are accelerating, requiring asset managers to accumulate bitcoins. The aggregate number of bitcoins held by these exchange-traded funds has now surpassed one million.

As a reminder, due to a mathematical formula, the total number of bitcoins can never exceed 21 million. With limited supply and growing demand, the price effect is therefore bullish.

Despite its flaws, the dollar is not collapsing and remains the world’s reserve currency and by far the dominant currency as a medium of exchange. Why? 1) The U.S. share of global GDP remains high (25% as of today); 2) People continue to trust U.S. law; 3) The quality of U.S. assets; 4) The U.S. is a net exporter of oil and liquefied natural gas; 5) The U.S. accounts for over 50% of global defense spending.

Questions: 1) Will the new administration reduce military spending? 2) Can the U.S. afford all this spending?